Handle removably applicable to the bails of containers



F. C. MOHS Feb. 4, 1958' HANDLE REMOVABLY APPLICABLE TO THE BAILS OF CONTAINERS Filed March 14, 1956 FIG. 5

IN V EN TOR.

' FRANK C. MOHS BY ATTORNEYS United States HANDLE REMOVABLY APPLICABLE TO THE BAILS OF CONTAINERS My invention relates to improvements in handles for the bails of shopping bags, baskets, pails and other containers, an object of the invention being to provide a simple, durable and inexpensive handle of such nature adapted to be quickly and easily applied to and removed from a container bail, and adapted, upon application to a bail, to remain securely held thereon against unintended dislodgment therefrom and against sliding movement along the bail.

Other objects of the invention reside in the novel combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter illustrated and/ or described.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a handle constructed in accordance with my invention, said handle being shown as applied to a fragmentarily illustrated bail structure of twin cords which is common in ordinary shopping bags.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken as on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view in detail of the body of the handle shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view in detail illustrating the core of said handle.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of both body and core of said handle, the core being shown as projected from the body into position accessible to be turned, and in angular disposition relative to the body for application of the handle to or for the removal of the handle from a bail structure.

In the illustrated embodiment of my invention, the improved handle is indicated in its entirety by the reference character A. This handle includes a cylindrical body formed with a bore 11 therein extending therethrough axially thereof, said body 10 being formed with a slot 12 therein longitudinally thereof, said slot cornmunicating with said bore 11 from end to end of the body 10. Said handle A also includes a cylindrical core 13 having a groove 14 formed therein longitudinally thereof. The length of said core 13 is preferably approximately the same as that of the body 10 and the circumferential corners of the core 13 at the ends thereof are slightly rounded to admit of the ready endwise insertion of the core into the bore 11 in the body 10.

Both body 10 and core 13 are preferably formed of wood, although plastics or other suitable materials may be employed. The material of the body 19, however, will be such that it will flex and expand circumferentially to accommodate not only the core 13, which is of slightly greater diameter than that of the bore 11 in said body, but to accommodate also a bail structure the thickness of which may happen to be greater than the depth of the groove 14 in the core 13.

In applying my improved handle to the bail structure of a container, the core 13 is thrust lengthwise of the body 10 into an extended position to expose an end portion of the core to be grasped by the fingers of a user, who will rotate the core 13 and turn it into a preliminary position, angularly of said body, in which position,

atent O 2,821,739 Patented Feb. 4, 1958 as shown in Fig. 5, the groove 14 in the core 13 opens into the slot 12 in the body 10. A bail structure, as at B, is then introduced sidewise, through the slot 12 in the body 10, into the groove 14 in the core 13, whereupon the core 13 is turned into a service position angularly of said body, as shown in Fig. 2, in which position of the core 13, the groove 14 therein is bridged and closed by a portion of the wall 11a of the bore 11 in the body 10. Finally, the core 13 is thrust back into the body 10, as shown in Fig. l, the handle A thereupon serving as a convenient and comfortable grip for the hand upon the bail structure B.

To remove the handle A from a bail structure B, the core 13 is thrust back into its aforesaid extended position relative to the body 10 and is then turned into its said preliminary angular position in relation to said body, whereupon the bail structure may be withdrawn from the groove 14 in the core 13 and thence from the slot 12 in the body 10 into which the said groove 14 then opens.

A particularly useful adaptation of my improved handle is for application to the twin-cord bail structures of conventional shopping bags, such as the bail structure B, consisting of twin cords 15, shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing. In this adaptation of the invention, the depth of the groove 14 in the core 13 is slightly less than the normal thickness of the bail structure B so that when the handle A is applied to such structure the cords 15 will be compressed between the core 13 and body 10 and, additionally, the body 10 may be circumferentially expanded by fiexure thereof in the event that the compressed bail structure cannot be fully accommodated within the groove 14 in the core 13. Thus, the bail structure B is caught in the grip of core 13 and body It), the handle A being thereby held against objectionable sliding movement along the bail structure B, as under the weight of an unbalanced load thereon. The advantage derived from flexure of the body 10, as aforesaid, may be had, if desired, in adaptations of the invention for application to non-compressible bails of wire or the like used on baskets or other containers.

Changes in the specific form of the invention, as herein described, may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is:

A handle for a bail structure substantially of a given normal thickness, said handle comprising an elongated body having a bore therein and having therein a slot for the sidewise reception of the bail structure, the slot communicating with the bore, both bore and slot extending longitudinally of the body, a cylindrical core of substantially the same length as that of the body, said core having a bail-receiving groove therein extending longitudinally thereof, said core being slightly greater in diameter than the diameter of said bore in said body, the body being circumferentially resilient, the core being fitted into said bore for longitudinal slidable movement and for rotational movement relative to the body, the body being circumferentially expanded by the core, said core being longitudinally slidable along said bore into an extended position relative to said body and back again, said core in such extended position thereof having one of its end portions projecting beyond the corresponding end of the body, said core being rotatable into a preliminary position and into a service position angularly of said body by the fingers of a user applied to the projected end portion of the core, the groove in said core in said preliminary position thereof opening into the slot in the body for sidewise reception in said groove and for sidewise withdrawal from the groove of the bail structure, via said slot, the groove in said core in said service position thereof being bridged and closed by a wall portion of the bore in said body for confinement between core and body of the bail structure occupying the groove in said core, the depth of said groove in said core being less than the normal thickness of the confined bail structure, said circum'ferentially resilient body and core co-acting with each other and with a bail structure in the groove of the core and yieldingly gripping said bail structure between said body and said core in said service position of said core relative to said body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Vasseur Jan. 14, 1890 Slade Aug. 18, 1896 Beil May 14, 1929 Poyer Dec. 3, 1935 Elliott July 6, 1948 

